Flipkart Health+, Skye Air put India’s Nascent DroneSector in Record Books
• Flipkart Health+ and Skye Air might set a world record for completing the World’s longest Beyond Visual Line of Sight flight > 100 km delivering medicines, with real-time payload health tracking and autonomous landing
• Flipkart Health+, and Skye Air have already conducted more than 200 flights of such unmanned aircraft systems to deliver medicines and medical devices in tough terrains
News Editor, Takmaa News, Kolkata, 6th Sept 2022. : Flipkart Health+, the digital healthcare marketplace platform of India’s homegrown Flipkart Group, and Skye Air Mobility, India’s leading drone delivery firm, on September 6, set a world record for doing the first commercial ‘Beyond Visual Line of Sight flight > 100 kms’ with a remote landing. This might be the world’s longest commercial Beyond Visual Line of Sight flight >100 kms beating the previous record of 18 kms. This delivery may be a turning point for the entire logistics industry and will help discover intelligent solutions to the supply chain problems confronting it.
The drone flight took off from the company’s Baruipur hub in West Bengal and delivered medicines at the HealthbuddyMatangini in the state’s Medinipur district, covering an aerial distance of 104 km in an hour. The distance between the two places is 185 km by road, and it takes about five hours to cover it by road.
To take healthcare to the remotest corners of the country, Flipkart Health+ partnered with Skye Air Mobility, which has so far conducted more than 2,000 commercial deliveries in sectors such as healthcare, e-commerce, quick-commerce, and agri-commodity. The companies have jointly conducted more than 200 successful flights of such unmanned aircraft systems already, delivering medicines and medical devices to take quality healthcare to people’s doorsteps.
Pranav Saxena, Chief Technology and Product Officer, Flipkart Health+, said, “At Flipkart, we are working on cutting-edge technologies to enhance the supply chain process, reduce the time taken to deliver, and widen the reach in the remotest parts of India. Drones can be effective in indoor and outdoor environments, and we are building the framework to unlock their potential. With the successful delivery of pre-packaged prescribed medicines for customers at the HealthbuddyMatangini in the state’s Medinipur district, we are now confident of delivering pre-prescribed medicines and medical equipment in remote areas of the country.”
Commenting on the World’s Longest BVLOS flight, Ankit Kumar, Chief Executive Officer, Skye Air, said, “Skye Air is committed to its vision of making drone deliveries a mainstream logistics solution for the healthcare, ecommerce and quick commerce industries. We are very proud on our partnership with Flipkart Health to continuously strive on delivering innovation and technology. Skye Ingenuity, the latest addition to our fleet, has just completed the 100 km+ record-breaking BVLOS flight. The success of this project will define commercial drone deliveries at scale in India. This will also help us to deliver products to hard-to-reach areas in the shortest possible time frame.”
Flipkart Health+ is currently conducting trials with packages that include medicines of all types and temperature monitoring. During the operations, the turn-around time for Flipkart has been tremendously reduced, and they would soon move to full-fledged commercial deliveries.
About Flipkart Health+
Flipkart Health+ is the digital healthcare marketplace platform that is a part of the Flipkart Group – India’s homegrown consumer internet ecosystem. Flipkart Health+ aims to provide millions of customers across the country access to quality and affordable healthcare through genuine medicines and healthcare products delivered to them. Flipkart Group acquired a majority stake in SastaSundar.com marketplace platform in 2021 to synergize its in-depth expertise to enable customers with high-quality medicines and healthcare products and services in the health-tech ecosystem through Flipkart Health+. The platform would benefit from the experience and expertise of the Flipkart Group, which includes its pan-India reach and technology capabilities, along with SastaSundar.com’s in-depth expertise to provide customers with an array of genuine offerings in the health-tech ecosystem.
